What Do You Do With A Drunken Trickster
by The Gatekeeper
Summary: What happens when four drunk tricksters get together?


What Do You Do With A Drunken Trickster?

-or-

What Is The Legal Limit For Spell Casting?

by

Kathy Lowe AKA The Gatekeeper (tgatekeeper@yahoo.com)

* * *

Disclaimer: Gargoyles and their characters are owned by Disney and Buena Vista Television and are used without permission. This story was written for enjoyment and is not intended for profit. 

I would like to thank my husband for putting up with my obsession with Gargoyles and being my patient editor. 

Rated:G 

* * *

June 2013

Owen frowned as he activated the screen of his telephone. A call to him at this time of night from the local police precinct was usually not good news.

"Good evening, Captain Maza," he said as the screen cleared.

"Where's Xanatos or Fox?" Captain Elisa Maza asked without preamble.

"Mr. and Mrs. Xanatos are away on vacation," answered Owen somberly. "Is there a problem, Captain?"

"You might say that." Elisa stepped aside to allow Owen a view of her office.

Sitting in a chair in front of Elisa's desk was seventeen-year-old Alexander Xanatos. The teen had a silly grin on his face.

"My people picked him up along with a car load of other kids about ten minutes ago. The driver has been booked on DUI. Normally I wouldn't hesitate to throw him in the drunk tank with the rest of the passengers, but I'm going to have to make an exception in his case."

"Captain Maza, Alexander should not be given preferential treatment," Owen stated. "Doing so sets a bad precedent, not to mention creating a public relations problem for you should the press get wind of it."

"Owen, I'm not doing it because he's Xanatos' son, I'm doing it because"

"Watch this one! It's so hot it's red!" Alex suddenly interrupted.

Elisa suddenly ducked as a wastebasket came zooming over her head. Alex spit and a resounding thunk came from the floating can.

"He's been doing that since they brought him in," continued Elisa. "He muttered something about Willie Wonka and has been spitting in disgusting shades of green and purple. At least I managed to get him to use the trash can rather than the walls."

"I understand now, Captain," said Owen, frowning deeply. "I shall leave immediately to collect Alexander."

"Hi Owen!" Alex called gleefully as Owen walked into Elisa Maza's office. "Come on and change; I want to learn how to take the Statue of Liberty out for a stroll."

"That will be enough, Alexander," Owen sternly told the boy. The wastebasket, nearly full of a rather vile looking polychromatic fluid, was circling Owen's head alarmingly.

"Oh boy, I'm in trouble aren't I?" muttered Alex as he let the wastebasket settle toward the floor.

"Extremely," Owen nodded. "What have you been into?"

"Nothing! I swear!" Alex cried. "I just had a few little strawberry daiquiris, that's all."

"How little and how many?"

"Oh" 

Alexander first held his fingers apart to indicate a size. Realizing that one hand was inadequate for the task, he resorted to using both hands as he stared owlishly at the space between them. Still unsatisfied, he finally he looked around until he spotted a coffee mug sitting on Elisa's desk.

"That little," he pointed and the mug transformed itself into a good-sized beer stein complete with a hinged lid.

Elisa took a cautious sniff of the contents of the stein. It was a strawberry daiquiri, very heavy on the rum.

"Hey, I didn't even have to chant for that one," exclaimed Alex proudly.

"I am not impressed," Owen said harshly. "Nor am I surprised. Baccus is directly related to Titania."

"Figures," commented Elisa dryly.

"How many did you drink," Owen pressed.

Alex withered under Owen's stare. "I only had three. Or was it four? Maybe five?" Alex scratched his head drowsily. "But, I didn't drink them on an empty stomach," he added brightly. "There was also the watermelon."

"And what was in the watermelon?" Elisa asked from her desk the tone of voice indicating that she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to find out.

"Dadadada Dunt Dunt Dat! Tequila!" Alex sang. Maracas and bongos sounded in the background.

"In my day it was vodka," muttered Elisa. "Do you think you can get him to clean this up before you leave?" she asked Owen, gesturing with her hand to indicate the expanse of her unusually decorated office.

Until then, Owen had been ignoring the décor. In the corner a brown water (chocolate?) fall was trickling away merrily. The floor was covered with something that looked like artificial turf but smelled like sugar and crushed to a powder when he walked on it. Elisa's desk and computer had been neatly cut in half and one half was missing. Surprisingly, the computer still worked and, despite the fact that it was standing on only two legs, the desk was still standing. One expected a singing Gene Wilder to pop through the door at any moment.

"Of course, Captain," answered Owen. "If we may have a moment alone?"

"OK," Elisa headed toward the door. She turned back just before opening it. "But ALL my files had better be returned. Is that clear, Puck?"

"As crystal," Elisa heard as she closed the door behind her. She could tell by the voice that Puck was now in charge, for what ever havoc that might bring.

Moments later Owen appeared, half carrying the staggering teen.

"He'd better not spit on the way out," Elisa warned.

"Captain, for the next month, Alexander will have to use a match to light a candle," Owen answered sternly.

"Good," Elisa answered as she walked back into her office. The officers in the outer room looked from Owen to Elisa wondering what they were referring to, then shrugged it off. Where Captain Maza was concerned, anything was possible.

Elisa stopped just inside the door, sighed, and shook her head in wonder. The office had been restored to it's original condition. Well, not quite, the stacks of paper on her desk were neater and the pencils were all in the pencil holder rather than being scattered about the desktop, There were also some parting gifts. Sitting in the window, in full bloom, was a large potted rose bush. On her desk, her restored coffee mug steamed with the aroma of mocha. An inviting mound of whipped cream topped it. Knowing Puck, it was probably laced with Milk Of Magnesia. She picked up the cup and headed for the door to find a sink to dump the coffee in.

"Hey Captain, you dropped something," one of the detectives called as Elisa stepped out of her office.

Elisa looked down to see a yellow note on the floor in front of her. She quickly scooped it up before anyone else could read it.

*_Please, I'm a Trickster, not a Prankster. There is a difference, you know*_

Elisa could almost hear the righteous indignation that the italicized script portrayed. A little embarrassed she returned to her desk and took a cautious sip. It was the real thing, all right, and very good for that matter.

*********** 

"Owen! My power is gone!" Alex cried plaintively when he burst into Owen's office the next day around noon.

The scion of one of the world's leading industrialists looked like he had been run through the wringer. He had not bothered to even pull a robe over his rumpled pajamas, his hair was a mess, and he was badly in need of a shave. Alexander looked pleadingly at Owen through runny, blood shot eyes, distress writ clearly on his pale face.

"What happened to me? I feel terrible." he asked pitifully as he dropped into a chair.

"I think you remember last night well enough, Alexander. As to your powers, I took them away."

"You what?" Alexander's exclamation was followed by a number of colorful expletives, several of which could have been disastrous had he been possessed of the magic to back them up. His manner was now quite the opposite of what it had been just seconds before. His eyes narrowed as he jumped to his feet, his fists clenched in rage.

"I have also talked to your parents," Owen added when Alex was forced to pause his ranting to take a breath. "You are grounded for a month, physically and magically. The rest of your punishment will be discussed when your parents return."

"What'd you have to call them for? I didn't do anything!" Alex yelled.

Owen remained silent, fixing the youth with his trademark icy stare.

Alex defiantly met the stare, then withered. "All right, so I had a few drinks. It wasn't like I was driving or anything." His voice still held a defiant tone.

"You led me to believe that the party was chaperoned, and it wasn't. You were also drinking, which is highly illegal for a person your age. Finally, not only were you drinking, you were _drunk_, a condition in which someone with your kind of power should never allow himself to be."

"What do you know about having a good time, anyway?" Alex raged again. "You've never been drunk in your life! You..Uh oh."

Alexander's face suddenly turned green, his eyes growing wide with panic. He raced for the bathroom.

Owen waited until Alex reappeared, his face only slightly less green than before. The teen staggered back to his chair and dropped into it, his face in his hands.

"I don't suppose you're going to give me anything to get rid of this hangover either," he muttered miserably.

"Consider it part of your punishment," Owen stated.

Alex groaned, the fight taken out of him for a moment. "I wish my head would stop pounding. Would saying 'I'm sorry' get me an aspirin?"

Owen silently shook his head. He studied the miserable teen for a minute then sighed and took off his glasses. "Alex, you were wrong a moment ago. I have been drunk, maybe even more so than you were, but it was a very long time ago. Let me tell you a story."

__

FLASHBACK

"I don't think we're supposed to be down here," the youth looked nervously toward the ceiling. Floating above him was a small, white haired figure with sharply pointed ears and long silver hair.

"Just relax Coyote," Puck admonished his canine-headed companion. "Everyone is asleep from last night's equinox celebrations; besides, Oberon just gave me the keys to all the wards."

"Then why are you whispering?" Coyote asked his equally young, fellow trickster.

"I'm not whisper OK, I guess I am," Puck amended. "I don't want to wake anyone up, that's all."

"Yea, sure, right," Coyote folded his arms and looked skeptical. "And I'll bet Oberon didn't give you those counter spells either."

"He did so. Oberon named me as a page to his personal staff yesterday at the ceremony." Puck landed and puffed himself up with pride. "You just didn't hear it because you were trying to catch Banshee in a whirlwind."

"I almost got her too," Coyote scratched at his right ear. "My ear's still ringing though."

"Next time let an expert show you how to do it," Puck chided.

"Yea, like the time you tried to dump honey on the sisters?" goaded Coyote

"Hey, I was a kid then," defended Puck.

"That was last year," Coyote reminded him.

"Well, I'm older now," Puck nervously looked up and down the stone hallway the two young fey were exploring.

They were deep under the castle proper, in an area that was off limits to most of the other fey on Avalon. The catacombs reportedly held the seldom-used dungeon and a number of storerooms, but there were rumors that Oberon kept some very strange things down here as well. Puck had to unlock at least two wards just to get down the stairs. So far the adventure had been a bit of a letdown. All the two explorers saw were featureless hallways; but that made them all the more nervous. They kept expecting something to jump out at them every time they turned a corner.

"Come on, let's go this way," Puck said with false confidence.

"I still don't know about this," worried Coyote. "Ok, so you're on Oberon's staff and not just his ward, now. He didn't exactly say you could be down here, did he?"

"Well, no," stammered Puck. "But If I'm going serve him properly, I need to know where things are at, don't I?"

"That's an awfully flimsy excuse," remarked Coyote. "I might even stick around to watch Oberon turn you over his knee when you try it on him."

"I'm working on it. I'm working on it," Puck shot back. "And what makes you think he won't do the same to you?"

"Oberon's not my mentor. He'll just turn me over to Peyote."

"Lucky you. She's an easy mentor." Puck said enviously. "I'd rather have Oberon than Grandmother, though. Poor Raven; Grandmother has him so cowed he's almost normal." 

"You don't get out of the castle enough, Puck. Raven has been slipping out a lot lately. Seems to me that you're the one on the leash."

"Hey, I can get out if I want too; it's just easier doing tricks in the castle. My victims come to me. I get them so spun up, while they're waiting in the anteroom, that by the time Oberon is ready to see them, they can barely say a word." Puck chortled then faked a yawn. "You know it's getting kind of late. Why don't we come back next week and keep exploring."

"You are scared!" Coyote claimed triumphantly.

"Am not! Look, there's a door. I'll open it; then we can get out of here."

Coyote stood back as Puck studied the markings on the door. Raising his hands, Puck intoned a spell and the door started to swing open. Coyote crowded in so he could see what was in the room.

A small black object suddenly dropped in front of the two nervous fey and yelled "BOO!"

Both youngsters screamed in terror and vanished in clouds of sparkling lights. Then, suddenly, they reappeared on the floor in a tangle of limbs.

The black object had dropped to the floor and was holding it's abdomen with all eight legs as it rolled about roaring with laughter.

"Anansi, don't you ever do that again!" Coyote yelled at the spider. "You scared the magic out of me!"

"Oh, you should have seen your faces!" Anansi laughed. "That was great! And then you both tried to blip though the same gate at the same time! You should take that act on the road!"

"Yea, well you've had your laugh," Puck grumbled as he picked himself up and brushed off his tunic. "How'd you get in here anyway?"

"I followed you. You left the wards down behind you," said the spider still chuckling. He uncurled and grew to the size of a dog. "So what's in here, anyway?"

"I don't know. You're blocking the door," said Puck pushing past Anansi. "Wow!" he breathed.

"What?" asked Coyote sticking his head around the door frame.

"It's Oberon's private stock," answered Puck.

The small store room was filled with oak kegs. There were some that were marked as holding wine, but most of them contained mead. Mead was not uncommon around Avalon and was the preferred beverage for most of the adult fey, but this mead was made from the finest honey in all the world.

"So open one," urged Anansi.

"I can't do that," protested Puck. "Oberon would have my hide."

"You said that you needed to know where everything was at. Now that you've found the mead, you should know which would be the best one to serve his high and mightiness when he calls for it," argued Anansi. "You don't want to serve him bad mead do you?"

"Well," started Puck.

"Come on," pushed Anansi. "You could at least open the oldest keg here. If it's good, then the rest should be good."

"All right, but just the oldest one," relented Puck. "Stand back."

Puck cast a spell. Then another one.

"It won't open. Oberon must have a different ward on these."

"Good grief, stand back you two," Coyote said walking up with a hammer he had just conjured. "Ever think of doing it the old fashioned way?"

With a mighty swing, Coyote broke the top of the keg open. The smell of the mead wafted in the air of the room as he stuck his head in the keg and lapped at the liquid inside.

"Hey! Get your nose out of there!" protested Puck. "You'll leave dog hairs in it. At least use a mug."

"Oh, this is good stuff," said Coyote licking his chops. 

"So let someone else have a turn," said Anansi scuttling up and sticking in a leg.

"Anansi!" hissed Puck as he rocketed around the room in aggravation.

Anansi leered at Puck as he pulled his leg back out, a mug held in his talon. Tossing the mug to Puck, Anansi dipped up one for himself.

"Mmmm, pure ambrosia," Anansi purred as he drank the thick liquid.

"Yea, I think I can safely say that this is fit to serve Oberon," agreed Puck.

"The ward is preventing me from sealing this barrel back up again," observed Coyote. "It would be a shame to let it get all dusty with the lid broken and all."

"It sure would," agreed Anansi reaching for a refill. "Oberon has so many barrels, he won't miss one. Let's take this and start our own little stash."

"Well, all right," agreed Puck. "But we can't keep it on Avalon. Someone is sure to find out."

"I know just the place," said Coyote, picking up the barrel. "Come on."

Coyote started to disappear; then reappeared.

"Well, what's wrong?" asked Puck.

"It's the ward on the barrel. It's not letting me phase out of here." said Coyote. "We're going to have to carry it out."

"We can't go traipsing through the castle with a keg of Oberon's finest," cautioned Puck. "We need some other kind of container to carry it in."

"I've got just the thing," said Anansi. "Don't drink it all before I get back." Anansi grabbed another mug for the road before trying to disappear. "Hey, what's up?"

"If you bothered to look, you would see that we're surrounded by wards," lectured Puck. "You've got to get back upstairs before you can teleport."

"Oh," Anansi simply said, topping off his mug before scuttling out of the room.

"If he keeps going like that, there won't be any left," complained Coyote. "Here Puck, we're at least one behind."

Puck took the proffered mug and smacked his lips appreciatively. "You know, I don't think Oberon has even let me have a taste of this stuff. It's too good to forget."

"I know I haven't," stated Coyote. "It's so smooth it just slides on down."

"Hey, where's mine?" a new voice asked.

"Well, tell the whole world, why don't you?" Puck snarled at he spider sitting on the shoulder of a fourth young trickster. The fey was almost as plain-looking as Puck, favoring dark long hair pulled into a pony tail and tan colored skin. 

"I had to get the wine skins from somewhere," defended Anansi. "Grandmother just made a bunch more, and Raven caught me taking them. He was going to spill the whole thing unless I brought him along."

"I still might," said Raven. "So, where is it?"

"Here, help yourself," grumbled Puck. "Just don't drink it all."

Raven dipped up a sample. "Oh yea! I'm on cloud nine!" he roared after he swallowed.

"Sh!" the other three Tricksters hissed making quieting motions.

"Do you want to bring the whole castle down here?" added Coyote worriedly. "Speaking of which." Coyote looked at Puck.

"Hold on," Puck closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment. "Oberon's got a block up, which means he's asleep or otherwise occupied. We're ok, but we'd better get moving."

Coyote and Puck grabbed skins and started transferring the contents of the barrel.

"You could help you know," Coyote said back to the other two.

"Hey, I'm busy," answered Raven from where he was perched on a barrel savoring a mug of the fragrant mead. "You guys are at least two up on me."

"Well?" asked Puck looking at Anansi.

"Oh, all right," relented the spider.

Anansi's form shimmered and changed to a more humanoid appearance, his chocolate brown skin and spiked black hair high lighted with streaks of bright red.

"You're putting on weight again," Puck quipped patting Anansi's plump stomach, "Cornucopia must be feeding you well."

"I'm merely helping my mentor inspect the spring honey harvest," answered Anansi as he picked up another skin.

"What harvest?" Raven chuckled jumping off the barrel to help, "you've eaten it all."

Working together, the four young tricksters transferred the contents to the wine skins. It took awhile because each one kept stopping for another swallow.

"We still have three empty skins," Anansi observed.

"No problem," said Raven as he broke the top out of another smaller, barrel, before Puck could say anything. "We might as well have two for each of us."

"Now what?" asked Puck looking into the barrel when all the bags were full. "There's still some in there, and we don't have time to get anymore bags."

"Simple," said Anansi phasing back into a spider and dropping his straw-like tongue into the barrel. "We drink it."

"For once you have a good idea," said Coyote changing his head to a humanoid look, with hairy dog-like ears and shaggy brown hair, and produced a straw.

Puck plunged in his own straw without comment.

"Hey, move over! Didn't your mentors teach you guys to share?" complained Raven. 

"Oberon doesn't share. Why should he teach me?" mumbled Puck between sips. 

"Come on, it's finished," urged Coyote changing completely to his name sake, two of the skins slung across his back. "Lets get out of here."

Puck levitated and promptly bumped his head on the ceiling. He landed back on the floor rubbing his head.

"A little tipsy, are we?" giggled Anansi.

"Not at all," slurred Puck, "I just feel like walking, that's all."

Raven snorted in mirth as he changed into a full bird shape, seizing two more skins in his talons. "I always could fly better than you," he said, and promptly flew into a wall. "But it's not a good idea to fly indoors," he added changing back.

The four tricksters made their way back down the hallways, cautiously peering around corners; then ducking back in fits of giggles. They were definitely starting to feel the effects of the mead.

"Wait. I must reset the ward," Puck hiccuped somberly when the got back to the castle proper.

He made a dramatic show of casting the spell.

"Very nice," commented Anansi, "but what's with the big bow?"

"The old ward lacked style," stated Puck. "Lead on, my good canine."

"Yea," seconded Raven. "Let's blow this island."

The four tricksters disappeared in a cloud of sparkling lights.

A peaceful forest glade suddenly exploded in ethereal light as the four tricksters appeared.

"We did it!" they yelled, slapping each other on the back. They knocked the skins together in a toast and took a long pull of the mead they had spirited out of the castle.

A long while later a thought swam into Coyote's mind. "Weren't we going to shave some of dis for later?" he asked the others.

"I think so," slurred Puck from where he was lounging against a rock. "We can always save the o'er skin."

"Shat is your other skin," Anansi pointed out from the web he had slung hammock style, between two trees.

"Well, I didn't agree to any-tttthhhhing except for keeping my trap shut," stated Raven. He was lying along a large tree branch, his limbs dangling lazily on either side of the branch. "Come to think of it, I don't re-re-recall agreeing to tat either. Besides, I'm empty."

"Ask me if I feel sorry for you," Puck tisked thickly.

"Hey," Coyote suddenly sat up, "something is watching us!" The fey changed form to a coyote and bounded off, with a few stumbles, into the underbrush.

"What's with him?" asked Raven as he leapt off the tree branch and pounced on the skins Coyote had left behind. He came up empty-handed and looked around in confusion.

"Oh, he's just seeing things," Anansi giggled as Coyote's wine skins appeared in his legs. "Nuts, these are empty too."

"Well, don't ask me for any more," said Puck tipping the last of his mead into his mouth and smacking his lips.

Coyote came weaving out of the woods, in humanoid form again, carrying a pair brown-furred animals by the scruff of their necks. "I told you someone watching!" he claimed triumphantly.

"Aw, they're just a couple of beavers," scoffed Raven.

"And you're only a crow," shot back Puck.

"That's Raven with a capitol R and dooon't you for-get-it."

"A couple of sorry looking beavers if you ask me," observed Anansi. "Couldn't you have come up with some better looking specimens?"

"Well sorry! I'll throw them back," said Coyote.

"Wait a minute. We could pretty them up a bit first," suggested Puck.

"Hey, I got just the thing," said Raven rubbing his hands together and casting a spell.

"Egg layers? Is that the best you can do?" asked Puck.

"I'm considering a nice hooked beak, too. I just need to get the spell straight," said Raven.

"Oh like this?" Puck cast his own spell.

"Those aren't beaks, they're bills!" protested Raven.

"They are? My mistake," Puck said sarcastically leering at Raven.

"I think you put a little too much punch behind that spell, Puck," commented Anansi. "That thing has an electric charge to it, now."

"I, ah, meant to do that. It'll be able to get around a little better underwater. Kinda like a dolphin," stated Puck to justify his blunder.

"Hey look at this," exclaimed Coyote as he examined the female beaver curiously. "She can piddle and poop from the same hole. Might as well run the eggs out the same way."

"You're twisted, you know that?" commented Anansi.

"Takes one to know one, web slinger," Coyote shot back with a leer.

"Well, as long as you're eliminating things," observed Raven. He wiped his hand down the belly of the female. When he was finished the nipples had vanished.

"You know boys got those things too," reminded Anansi as he did the same to the male beaver.

"Hey, what have you got against breasts?" asked Puck.

"Nothing. They look great on females," answered Raven. "I'm just streamlining, that's all."

"Well if you want streamlining, you should have started with the ears," stated Puck. The ear flaps disappeared, leaving only holes.

"OK, that's enough streamlining. How 'bout a new color scheme? Something with a little zing," suggested Coyote.

The fur of the beavers shimmered into geometric patterns of yellow and turquoise.

"I always preferred plaid myself," said Puck matching the pattern to his words.

"Lightning stripes," said Anansi.

"Rainbows," added Raven at the same time.

The two spells clashed, causing the beaver's fur turned black as the colors combined.

"Now you've done it," complained Coyote, "They're taking all the colors, and I, for one, don't feel like expending the energy to undo it."

"The way they look now, they're going to have to defend themselves just to keep from being the laughing stock of the animal kingdom," observed Anansi. "I think a little poison will do nicely."

Just as Anansi cast his spell a powerful blast of wind knocked him off his legs.

"Drat! I missed the female," he said. "I'll just have to do it again."

Anansi didn't notice that Puck's face had just grown paler. "Uh, Anansi?"

"Pipe down. I'm trying to concentrate," the spider waved him off.

A shadow fell across the beavers.

"Would you get out of my light," Anansi complained; then he saw scarlet-clad feet step on either side of the altered beavers. "Uh, oh," he breathed as his gaze moved slowly up and into the face of a very angry Oberon. "Busted," he squeaked.

"What in the name of Avalon do you think you are doing?" Oberon roared.

Anansi bleated in fear and scuttled across the clearing to where the other three tricksters were cowering.

"We know who released the wards," Oberon continued looking down at Puck.

The young trickster cringed under his mentor's gaze, "I, I, I, was just seeing where everything was at," Puck stammered, on his knees in front of his lord.

"I don't want to hear it!"

Puck clamped his mouth shut and crept behind the others.

"We want to know whose idea it was to do this." Oberon waved at the hapless beavers.

"He did it!" all four youths piped together pointing fingers at each other. Then they started babbling.

"It wasn't me."

"He found them."

"I had nothing to do with it."

"It was his idea."

"I was just along for the fun, honest."

"Don't look at me."

"Enough!" roared Oberon, his voice so loud that the sky clapped with thunder. "You four are too drunk to even remember what day it is!"

"It's Tuesday," supplied Anansi helpfully.

"No it's not, it's Wednesday," whispered Coyote.

"Silence!" Oberon waved his hand and the four young fey found themselves bound together and gagged. "Tricksters!" Oberon shook his head in aggravation. "Why do I even put up with the likes of you? Come along. You shall be punished."

With that Oberon teleported back to Avalon, hauling the four shivering fey in his wake.

__

Present day

Owen closed his eyes and shuddered at the memories.

"So, what did Oberon do to you?" prompted Alex.

"Huh? Oh. He hung us in the dungeon by our heels for a week until we dried out." 

Owen cringed again. "Being upside down and powerless was not fun. I was sick for at least three days; the rest of the time I was only miserable. I spent the next two months scrubbing the castle floors, manually. 

"When Oberon lifted his sentence, the four of us swore by Avalon that we would never get drunk again. I don't know about the others, but I have never broken that oath. Through the years I have that avoiding a bad hangover is merely one of many excellent reasons to live by such a rule."

"Like what?" asked Alex.

"To be a good trickster, or businessman for that matter," Owen added pointedly putting his glasses back on, "one has to keep their wits about them. If you don't, you're merely a drunken buffoon."

"Oh," said Alex, mulling over Owen's statement. Come to think of it, he had never seen his father drinking more than a single glass of wine during business dinners. Before and after dinner drinks were left untouched. Some of Xanatos' most lucrative business deals had been made after his guest's third snifter of brandy.

"I found out much later that Oberon was rather amused by our drunken antics. He was more upset over the fact that I had abused his trust concerning the wards. It was twelve years before he let me have the counter spells again." Owen paused to let his last statement sink in. "You are to stay in your room until your parents are home. No telephone, no television, no internet," he ordered.

"Yes, sir," answered Alex somberly. "Thanks for not hanging me by my heels, too, teacher."

Owen merely nodded as he want back to his paperwork.

"Uh, Owen? One more thing. What happened to those beavers?" Alex asked when he reached the door of the office.

"Oberon decided to keep them altered as a reminder of what we had done. Their descendents are still living. In Australia."

"You don't mean?" Alex exclaimed in wonder.

"I'm afraid I do, Alexander." Owen's face held the barest hint of a smile. "I and my fellow tricksters are responsible for creating the duck-billed platypus."

END


End file.
